


Under These City Lights

by RothschildsFiddle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: After s6, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Krolia knows what's up, M/M, Mutual Pining, My First Fanfic, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rebellion, Slow Burn, Space Adventures!, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 12:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15142772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RothschildsFiddle/pseuds/RothschildsFiddle
Summary: “A break? This whole time we've been taking it easy just trying to get to Earth,” Pidge said critiquing him, the long flight making her slightly more snappy then usual. Only slightly.--The journey back to Earth is long for the Paladins (and the lack of seeing one another is painful for others), and at some point they need a break. But can the defenders of the universe really rest with so much at stake?(I was inspired to write this after listening to "Is There Somewhere" by Halsey. Also I absolutely suck at summaries.)





	Under These City Lights

Everything was being settled. They were going home. Fighting Lotor took everything out of them, as well as the castle they grew to know as home. Not only was it the paladins’ home, but it was also their intergalactic travel map. One that they now no longer had. Sure, Pidge’s tech was useful, but it was difficult to use at such a small scale. At best they could barely see the next planet on the edges of her map weeks after leaving their last battle behind; it would be hard to pinpoint in which direction is Earth, and there definitely aren’t any signs pointing the way.

 

“Okay, you guys, I love traveling with you and all, but I think we need a break,” Hunk interrupted the silence of their trip. The blissful silence that allowed Keith to mull over how everything was more different and wild than before. _I've been gone from the team for so long. What have they done without me? What has_ he _done without me…_

 

“A break? This whole time we've been taking it easy just trying to get to Earth,” Pidge said critiquing him, the long flight making her slightly more snappy then usual. Only slightly.

 

“Yeah but it's been pretty much like a road trip, right?” Hunk took their silence as nods of agreement. “And you know, on a road trip you usually switch drivers so everyone gets some rest? Why not stop at the nearest planet so, I dunno, see something different? From the ground for a change?” Being on something solid and unmoving appealed to Keith.

 

The Paladins from Earth understood what he meant, their alien passengers, not so much.

 

“We’re going to have to stop to get more supplies anyways. Even with the speed of our lions, there’s no guarantee that we’ll have enough food to get  by without stopping somewhere,” Hunk added.

 

“What makes you say that? We should have packed enough food when we cleared out the castle, _Hunk,_ ” Pidge had pointed out accusingly.

 

“Well,” Allura began, with doubt and tiredness in her voice, preventing them from arguing further, “Even if we did stop, we don’t know what kind of planet we’re going to land on. It’s not like the Castle map, which showed us what planets were still Galra controlled. We don’t even know the name of the planet we’re coming up to.” Her reasoning was pulling Keith to her side of the argument.

 

“Shouldn’t that be even more of a reason to stop by? In case they need our help,” Lance interjected. They had been travelling in silence for so long the sound of Lance’s voice almost made Keith jump from his seat, not used to the current Red Paladin being so quiet. He was coming close to admitting  he missed the sound of the Cuban’s voice. Almost.

 

“And if we’re captured trying to help? Then we’ll never make it to your planet!” Romelle’s fear was a reminder to the pilots that they had others on board with them.

 

An audible groan came from someone stumbling within the Black Lion. To Keith’s surprise, he saw Shiro stumbling out of where the healing pod was and slightly swaying as he stood. “Voltron has made it out of tough situations, and we can do it again.” Shiro’s drowsy voice was still clear enough for everyone to consider what they were really deciding. “We’re going back home. But we can’t deny others the help if they need it.”

 

A solemn quiet fell over everyone. “Keith, you haven’t said anything,” Krolia stated, not having been heard other than by the audience inside the Black Lion. Keith turned his head to face his brother and mother, a pensive gaze across his face.

 

“If we run into a fight, we’ll be ready for it.” With that, the conversation ended and set course for the planet barely in sight.

 

\--

 

There was never a lack of awe from the paladins when they came upon a different planet for every mission. This time was no exception. Lance sat there, amazement controlling his expressions and forcing his focus on the sight before him.

 

Wispy yet fluffy cotton clouds orbited the planet, giving it a soft frame, and the shades of purple slowly appearing to fade in and out on what seemed as the planet’s surface would have put any great artist to shame had they tried to recreate it. Miniscule flecks of gold and yellow nearly unnoticeable had they not been so numerous came from under the clouds, giving the sphere of mass a faint glow, making it almost ethereal. Many minutes of silence passed between the paladins and their company before it was calmly interrupted.

 

“Coran, what is this place,” Allura was asking softly, trying not to break their moment of quiet and beauty. Even slightly heartbroken, her voice still put a trance over Lance.

 

“This… is Zalteran. The debated sister planet of Altea.” The gleam in Coran’s eyes slowly started to fade. “When King Alfor put us to sleep, their status of whether they surrendered or resisted the Galra invasion was unknown. They seem to have made it out just fine.” His voice cracked at that last part, out of sadness or anger, the rest couldn’t tell.

 

“Best to not alarm them, we should land somewhere we won’t disturb,” Keith added on coolly. Their descent onto the ground was quick; their arrival was nearly unnoticed.

 

The dust was kicked up and blew around the legs of the lion, but was quickly settled once all had landed. Almost like some force was holding their breath, the Paladins heavily sighed, as if in relief that they were on solid ground. Lance was the first one out of the lions.

 

Stretching out his arms and letting out a long yawn as he walked out was his first course of action being grounded. “Alright, so when do we meet the people and start being the heroes again because I'm getting tired of flying around for so long!” This earned him an eye roll from Pidge as they came out of their lions.

 

“Didn't a certain somebody say they wanted to be the top pilot in class,” she teased. The former Blue Paladin pouted in her direction and crossed his arms indignantly.

 

“Well- uh, that was before we joined Voltron! Now that we drive these crazy space cats I get to be the super co-” A small shuffle from not too far away cut his sentence abruptly. “Did you hear that?”

 

“Hear what?” Immediately everyone was on edge. Lance took out his bayard, giving him his blaster, hand ready on the trigger. The silence and stillness had the paladins holding their breath in anticipation of a fight.  Quietly he crept around to the back of the Blue Lion, where he thought he heard the noise come from.

 

His creeping was cut short by a small tanned boy and an older fairer girl who stumbled forward, startling Lance where he began taking a few nervous steps backwards. He now understood why the Zalterans might be considered relatives to Alteans. What the two children in front of  him lacked in the facial markings and pointed ears, they made up for in what resembled intricate body art.

 

The little boy appeared to be at least five years old, with bright patterns behind his ears connecting at his nape. Unlike the boy, the girl had her markings on the front of her neck, only going as far as the top of her chest and in deep cold colors. If Lance didn’t know they were on an alien planet far away from Earth, he would have thought some parents had decided to get their kids tattooed. The figures on their skin were different, so he figured they must have meant something.

 

It had felt like half an hour had passed of Lance just analyzing who they were, but in less than a few heartbeats, the rest of the team was already behind him, waking him up from his staring. Shaking his head to focus more on the aliens before him, he realized that now the girl was protectively shielding the younger boy.

 

“Lance, are you alright?” Keith’s concerned voice was just as entracing as Allura’s, but that wasn’t something Lance was going to admit. At least not out loud. He nodded in affirmation that he wasn’t hurt. The current Black Paladin walked past him to the children, and Lance was ready to get in his way.

 

Instead he wore a soft expression to both children, crouched down and held his hand out to them. The girl looked at him skeptically and in fear. Lance could understand why she was hesitating. _It’s not everyday colorful robotic lions land on your planet, especially if the Galra are trying to keep you in the dark._ Suddenly a nearly inaudible squeak came from the girl.

 

“Who are you?” Her gaze went past Keith to look at the other paladins. She froze once she got to Allura, conflicting emotions showed on her face and in her breathing. “You’re Altean?” The question seemed to be directed at Allura, who also froze under her stare. Keith turned to see what she was looking at then turned back and answered for all of them.

 

“We’re the Paladins of Voltron, and she is Princess Allura. We just want to help you.” He was trying to be as comforting as possible. Lance’s heart ached at how patient he was being with them. “Will you tell us your names?”

 

She hesitated, but answered nonetheless. “Mine is Amfarys, and my little brother’s is Marfrovlo.” He little boy looked up at the mention of his name and first locked eyes with Lance and kept doing so as Amfarys tried to get him to stand with her. Her expression quickly changed from scared to stoic, like she was on a mission. “If you’re lucky the Galra wouldn’t have noticed your arrival. I know of a place you can hide in for now with your ships, where I can explain more.” Although having just met her, they knew the girl wasn’t who they were expecting her to be.

 

There was some sense of urgency in her voice, causing the paladins to worry and start gathering themselves and their passengers into the lions. Amfarys and Marfrovlo ran straight into the Red Lion, for reasons Lance didn’t know. As they settled in next to Lance for Amfarys to guide him, Allura suddenly made her way into the cockpit.  

 

“I’m sorry Amfarys, but I want to know why you were asking if I was Altean.” Their newest passenger stared straight ahead but still answered the princess. Everyone was ready for take off, but were waiting for Allura to get back into Blue.

 

“I wanted to know why you couldn’t stop him 10,000 years earlier and why it took you so long to get to us now.” Lance whipped his head around to see Allura’s expression, but she was already running out of Red to get to her own lion. They were going to need to ask _a lot_ of questions.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a pretty good idea of where this is gonna go I just need to actually write it. Please let me know what you think!! Criticize me!! But do it gently :) please...


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